Health Equity and Access: Bridging Disparities in Medical and Public Health Services
Keywords:
Health Equity, Machine Learning, Public Health Access, Random Forest, Healthcare DisparitiesAbstract
Health care equity is a fundamental issue because the differences in access, quality of care, and health outcomes persistently influence many people from distinct socio-economic statuses in various health care systems. This study looks at the utility of using machine learning models to help eliminate and correct inequities in medical delivery. Using the mathematics of Decision Tree, Random Forest, SVM, and K-Means Clustering, databases that contain socioeconomic and geographical as well as clinical variables; the objective was to predict the gap in access and segment the people following healthcare needs. The Random Forest algorithm performed best having a 91.6% accuracy, followed by SVM at 89.3%, Decision Tree at 85.1 percentage, and K-Means with a silhouette score of 0.72 for effective population segmentation. Our analysis showed that the combination of classification with unsupervised methods allows for the identification of those at-risk and underserved populations. Based on our findings, our technique appears to outperform in terms of precision and can transfer to larger real-world healthcare systems applications. The research validates that the use of machine learning for its part can significantly promote fair healthcare since it optimizes resource utilization, influences the development of the policy and gives precise interventions. Our results provide a practical, scalable, data-driven framework with which to address complex social and clinical problems, leading to the universal, equitable, and accessible healthcare for all.
Downloads
Metrics
References
Cannon, Y., 2021. Closing the health justice gap: access to justice in furtherance of health equity. Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev., 53, p.517.
Nana-Sinkam, P., Kraschnewski, J., Sacco, R., Chavez, J., Fouad, M., Gal, T., AuYoung, M., Namoos, A., Winn, R., Sheppard, V. and Corbie-Smith, G., 2021. Health disparities and equity in the era of COVID-19. Journal of clinical and translational science, 5(1), p.e99.
Stillman, K., Owen, D.D., Mamtani, M., Alter, H. and Khan, A., 2021. A social emergency medicine curriculum: bridging emergency care and health equity. AEM Education and Training, 5(Suppl 1), p.S154.
de Villiers, K., 2021. Bridging the health inequality gap: an examination of South Africa’s social innovation in health landscape. Infectious Diseases of Poverty, 10, pp.1-7.
Subica, A.M., 2023. CRISPR in public health: The health equity implications and role of community in gene-editing research and applications. American journal of public health, 113(8), pp.874-882.
Corbie, G., Brandert, K., Fernandez, C.S. and Noble, C.C., 2022. Leadership development to advance health equity: An equity-centered leadership framework. Academic Medicine, 97(12), pp.1746-1752.
Ahmed, S., Chase, L.E., Wagnild, J., Akhter, N., Sturridge, S., Clarke, A., Chowdhary, P., Mukami, D., Kasim, A. and Hampshire, K., 2022. Community health workers and health equity in low-and middle-income countries: systematic review and recommendations for policy and practice. International Journal for Equity in Health, 21(1), p.49.
Odeny, B., 2021. Closing the health equity gap: A role for implementation science?. PLoS Medicine, 18(9), p.e1003762.
Obohwemu, K.O., 2024. “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS”: EQUITY AS A FUNDAMENTAL DIMENSION OF HEALTH. International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health Research, 5(11), pp.56-69.
Lyles, C.R., Nguyen, O.K., Khoong, E.C., Aguilera, A. and Sarkar, U., 2023. Multilevel determinants of digital health equity: a literature synthesis to advance the field. Annual review of public health, 44(1), pp.383-405.
Hadjiat, Y., 2023. Healthcare inequity and digital health–A bridge for the divide, or further erosion of the chasm?. PLOS digital health, 2(6), p.e0000268.
Todic, J., Cook, S.C., Spitzer-Shohat, S., Williams Jr, J.S., Battle, B.A., Jackson, J. and Chin, M.H., 2022. Critical theory, culture change, and achieving health equity in health care settings. Academic Medicine, 97(7), pp.977-988.
Gupta, P., Choudhury, R. and Kotwal, A., 2023. Achieving health equity through healthcare technology: Perspective from India. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 12(9), pp.1814-1817.
Hassan, S.M., Okoli, E.C., Azike, C.A., Okoye, N.A. and Adindu, N.K., 2024. Assessing the Impact of Community Health Workforce on the Efficiency and Accessibility of Healthcare Delivery. Archives of Current Research International, 24(10), pp.167-173.
Itchhaporia, D., 2021. Paving the way for health equity in cardiology: why does it matter?. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 77(20), pp.2613-2616.
Raffaelli, B., Rubio-Beltrán, E., Cho, S.J., De Icco, R., Labastida-Ramirez, A., Onan, D., Ornello, R., Ruscheweyh, R., Waliszewska-Prosół, M., Messina, R. and Puledda, F., 2023. Health equity, care access and quality in headache–part 2. The journal of headache and pain, 24(1), p.167.
Flaubert, J.L., Le Menestrel, S., Williams, D.R., Wakefield, M.K. and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021. The Role of Nurses in Improving Health Care Access and Quality. In The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. National Academies Press (US).
Sadler, D., Okwuosa, T., Teske, A.J., Guha, A., Collier, P., Moudgil, R., Sarkar, A. and Brown, S.A., 2022. Cardio oncology: digital innovations, precision medicine and health equity. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 9, p.951551.
Ditosto, J.D., Roytman, M.V., Dolan, B.M., Khan, S.S., Niznik, C.M. and Yee, L.M., 2023. Improving postpartum and long-term health after an adverse pregnancy outcome: examining interventions from a health equity perspective. Clinical obstetrics and gynecology, 66(1), pp.132-149.
Geneviève, L.D., Martani, A., Wangmo, T. and Elger, B.S., 2022. Precision public health and structural racism in the United States: promoting health equity in the COVID-19 pandemic response. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 8(3), p.e33277.
Koehle, H., Kronk, C. and Lee, Y.J., 2022. Digital health equity: addressing power, usability, and trust to strengthen health systems. Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 31(01), pp.020-032.
Jensen, N., Kelly, A.H. and Avendano, M., 2022. Health equity and health system strengthening–time for a WHO re-think. Global Public Health, 17(3), pp.377-390.
Payán, D.D., Zawadzki, M.J. and Song, A.V., 2022. Advancing community-engaged research to promote health equity: considerations to improve the field. Perspectives in Public Health, 142(3), pp.139-141.
Reis, F.J., Fernandes, L.G. and Saragiotto, B.T., 2021. Telehealth in low-and middle-income countries: bridging the gap or exposing health disparities?. Health policy and technology, 10(4), p.100577.
Kale, S., Hirani, S., Vardhan, S., Mishra, A., Ghode, D.B., Prasad, R. and Wanjari, M., 2023. Addressing cancer disparities through community engagement: lessons and best practices. Cureus, 15(8).
Moghadam, S.S. and Leal, S., 2021. How should physicians and pharmacists collaborate to motivate health equity in underserved communities?. AMA Journal of Ethics, 23(2), pp.117-126.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
